The Missing Hokage
by Gabo 1602
Summary: This is my take on Perfect Lionheart's Missing Hokage Challenge. That about explains all of it. Hope you enjoy! naruhina


**The Missing Hokage**

**AN: This is my first attempt at writing a complete story, so try to ignore any mistakes. This is my take on 'The Missing Hokage' challenge by Perfect Lionheart. I'll probably steal a lot of his ideas, so anything I mention that is from his story 'Chuunin exam day' isn't mine. **

**Edit: I have decided to repost this chapter, I think this will be better for everyone. **

**P.S. I have decided to alter the timeline for my own convenience. The mission with team 8 to get the bug back happened before the Sasuke Retrieval.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, and neither do any of the things I include from Chuunin exam day here.**

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_ 'Dammit, Naruto. You couldn't have picked a better day to underestimate yourself.' _Thought Senju Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, while pacing around angrily in her office. Naruto had apparently killed Sasuke at the Valley of the End, during their battle. Kakashi had brought both their bodies to the hospital about 2 days ago. He had said that Naruto had, apart from the various minor cuts and bruises that came with a battle he had, a chest wound from a Chidori, and that Sasuke had various claw marks everywhere, some serious chakra burns, and a wound inflicted by a Rasengan in the stomach. He had said that he was not sorry for Sasuke. He had abandoned his teammates, his friends, and his home. For that, he was lower than trash. After that he had apologized for teaching him the Chidori, and that she had his word that he would do anything to help redeem himself. For his sensei, and the legacy that he had wrongly ignored. But what had really made her angry and nervous was the fact that the council elders had come in her office a while ago and informed her that Naruto would have to be either executed, or at the very least exiled due to the upheaval that would come at the 'Demon child's murder of the Uchiha prodigy'. And although she had argued, they had stated that there had been large amounts of demon chakra in the valley, and that the seal must have been weakening, allowing the Kyuubi to influence him into killing his teammate. "What would stop him from doing the same to the entire village?" They had argued. She was desperate and needed to find some way out of this.

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A loud crash was heard from the Hokage's office and Shizune quickly came running.

"Lady Tsunade!" She exclaimed. She found the Hokage panting over the scattered remains of what used to be her desk. "What happened?"

"The 'Honorable Elders' just came to me and told me I had to either execute Naruto or exile him for killing Sasuke while on a mission that clearly stated to bring him back, dead or alive, preferably alive. And I can't do a thing, because they're right, not doing so would cause a massive upheaval and I can't protect him from any of that, not without the village erupting into a civil war." She spat out, visibly deflating after the first statement. Shizune gasped.

"I just don't know what to do" She sighed tiredly.

Then, suddenly, a grin that made Shizune nervous appeared on the blonde's face. "Shizune, why the heck did we come to this hellhole?" She asked, with the grin still on her face.

"Um, Naruto-kun convinced you to come. But what does this..." Suddenly, realization hit her. "So, after all Naruto-kun went through to get us here, we're going to have to leave with him..."

"Yes." She said sharply "Now go check on the little brat for me while I think of how we're gonna do this."

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Shizune arrived at Naruto's hospital room to an adorable sight. Hinata was sleeping on top of Naruto while holding his hand. Apparently she had fallen asleep while waiting for him to wake up.

She walked over to them and woke her up. "Hinata, wake up." She gently shook her.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" Mumbled the shy heiress before becoming aware that some_one_ had woken her up.

She shot awake blushing furiously at this. "I'm sorry, you need to leave, you can come back in the morning." She said while smiling. Hinata managed to stutter out "Go-gomen." She then left.

"_I wonder how Tsunade-sama would feel about taking her... I bet she would be an excellent med-nin, considering she's a Hyuuga. They'd be good for each other."_ Shizune thought while smirking.

She then proceeded to examine Naruto's unconscious form.

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Shizune came into the office with a smirk on her face that would've normally scared Tsunade. Today, though, the smirk made her grin widely, knowing that it would help them in their final days as Konoha ninja and throughout their quest to make Naruto's life better.

"How would you feel about bringing someone else with us?" She asked with the smirk on her face.

That made her grin even wider.

"I'm not sure. Who do you have in mind?"

Her smirk grew into a full grin. "Hinata, the Hyuuga heiress that looks like a tomato whenever Naruto-kun's around."

"And what, pray tell, gave you this idea? My wonderfully brilliant assistant." Answered Tsunade, liking the idea a _lot._

"Well, I saw her asleep on top of Naruto when I went to check on him. I thought that, considering that she probably has above average chakra control because she can work the Jyuuken fairy well, that she would make a good med-nin. She obviously cares a lot for Naruto and having someone his age to train with would do wonders for both of them. I also thought they looked adorable sleeping like that." She finished that in a half-squeal.

"Well, I find no flaw in your logic, so I'll keep that in mind when I'm preparing everything. Summon Hyuga Hiashi to my office tomorrow morning? I'll need to talk to him about this too."

Shizune smiled and nodded. While this action would've probably scared the crap out of most people, the fact that they wanted to screw the village over made the blonde Hokage happy to see her assistant so enthusiastic about it.

"Now lets start packing." Said the Hokage with a smirk. "Shizune, go into the Hokage library and get me _everything _you find in there. Here take this, lt'll help you get in if there's any trouble." She tossed her a small scroll, which Shizune caught deftly. "Hai Hokage-sama." Said Shizune almost playfully.

"Now to make the preparations for our escape." She then began working on the best batch of paperwork _ever_.

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Next morning, just as she had told Shizune, Hyuga Hiashi appeared in her office early in the morning.

"You called for me Hokage-sama?" Hiashi said coolly.

"Yes," she answered "it concerns your daughter, Hinata."

He raised an eyebrow, motioning her to continue. "Well the "honorable elders" decided that, because he "murdered" Sasuke while trying to retrieve him, Naruto had to be executed or exiled. Due to the massive uproar it would cause if word got out that the demon child murdered the last Uchiha."

Hiashi began to say something but was silenced by a raised hand. "I'm sure you disapprove of this, considering that he helped two of your closest family members change for the better." She began explaining

"Now you're probably wondering 'what does this have to do with Hinata?' " He nodded

"Well I've decided that, since I'm getting old," Hiashi flinched at the reference "And we live in a world where anything is possible, I need to train another apprentice so my medical knowledge will not be lost if either me or Shizune dies." He again nodded, getting where this was going.

"I've been considering other candidates, but due to the loyalty and admiration your daughter has for my favorite blond genin, I've decided that she would do best to provide some emotional and psychological support for Naruto in these troubling times. He's gonna have a lot to think about, I'm pretty sure that this was his first kill, and his best friend no less. He should have some acceptance and approval from someone his own age."

Hiashi agreed, while he may not have acted against the boy in the past, the indifference was just as bad. He had failed the legacy of his friend and Hokage, at least now he could begin to atone for two of his past failures. If only by giving him the best chance he had at being happy. Also, helping his daughter and nephew improve as both shinobi, and people didn't hurt his willingness to help the jinchuriki.

"Give her my blessings, I can only hope she will grow under your tutelage."

She smiled. "I'll be sure to tell her that before we leave."

"Do you need anything else, Hokage-sama?" He asked, preparing to leave.

"Yeah, how would you like to give the clan elders one hell of a migraine while removing the Caged Bird seal?" She asked, a bit more familiarly.

He smirked. "That would be most appreciated, the Hyuga elders fail to remember that they are they there to advise me. Not to rule the clan with me. I would appreciate if you could remind them before your training trip with your apprentice."

They both shared a slightly evil laugh at that. "O.K. That's all, you're dismissed Hiashi."

He got up, bowed and left. Leaving the blonde Sannin alone in her office again.

"Now I'll just have to tell that pervert..." She said to herself.

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Naruto woke with pain in his chest and something warm in his hand and over his right side. He tried to open his eyes but quickly shut them because of the harsh light. He moaned. Suddenly he heard a small 'eep' and the pressure over him and the warmth in his hand left. After a moment he finally opened his eyes to see a small figure with short, dark blue hair and a jacket two sizes too big on it.

"Na–Naruto-kun?" It asked in a familiar voice.

He thought about it for a moment. "Hinata?"

She blushed and nodded. "What am I doing here..." He looked around and found out he was at the hospital. He remembered his mission and looked to where the pain was, he found his side bandaged almost completely and, should he remove his bandages, would've found only a patch of skin that was lighter than the rest to indicate that he had actually received a killing blow to the chest. "Oh" he added in a smaller voice.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

She blushed "Ano, I w-was here w-waiting for y-you to wake u-up, after I w-went t-to visit N-Neji-niisan." She stuttered out.

"Really?" he asked incredulously, somebody was visiting him, the Kyuubi brat. He looked around and found that she was the only one there, not Sakura-chan, not Kakashi-sensei, and obviously not Sasuke-teme, it was Hinata, the weird girl that always had a fever and fainted around him.

Now, if the author had a viable excuse for including a mental link with the fox, it would've said: **"Kit, you are the densest person alive"** And our blond hero would've answered: 'Shut up you stupid fox!' But since that is not so he settled for: "You're here visiting me?" he asked, looking around to see if the had missed anyone else sharing the room.

"H-hai" she responded.

"Did I bring Sasuke-teme back?" he asked, extremely hopeful.

He did not expect for her to look down, breathe deeply for a moment and then, in a voice smaller than usual she said "N-no, you apparently k-k-killed him while t-trying to b-bring him back..."

"W-w-what...?" He asked in a broken tone that made Hinata's heart ache "I-i k-k-killed him?"

"Y-yes, at least t-that's w-what I was t-told." She answered, terrified of making him feel bad because of being the one delivering them.

He then did something that almost broke Hinata's little heart into tiny, unidentifiable pieces. He cried. A terrible sadness overwhelming Naruto. Enveloping him in despair. "_I-i killed him, I promised Sakura-chan I'd bring him back but I couldn't, I killed him. It's all my fault, if I hadn't taken the power from the stupid fox. If I had trained more, I wouldn't have needed the fox's power. It's all my fault-"_ But before he could continue with his mental rant into insanity, Hinata did something that probably saved Naruto, and changed both of their lives forever.

She hugged him. It was out of pure instinct, she didn't really think, and would have later thought about what she had been thinking at the moment, but she just had to. When she saw him cry, the great pillar of self-confidence that was Naruto, crying. It just made her feel wrong. So she had done what she thought best, ignoring all of her inhibitions for the boy she loved.

"I-it's okay, N-naruto-kun. D-did you do it on p-p-purpose?" She asked in a soothing tone.

Naruto was bewildered. He hadn't had much physical contact other than from spars and fights over his short lifespan. Being the village pariah implied such things. But he had never, _ever _gotten a hug. Especially not from a girl wanting to comfort him. Then he remembered she had asked him something.

"Um, no. It w-was an accident. I t-think we both underestimated myself." he answered, still a bit shaken from having killed his best friend, and getting a hug from Hinata.

"D-did he try to k-kill you during your f-fight?" She asked, still amazed at how she could do this.

"Well, yeah. He actually c-called me h-his b-b-best friend before putting the C-chidori through me..." He didn't like remembering the fight. Other than having killed his best friend, he had been through injuries that he was sure would've killed him, had he not been who he was.

"T-hen you have no need to f-feel so bad. He w-was willing t-to abandon and k-kill you to go t-to Orochimaru. You acted in s-self d-defense, and d-did not do anything w-wrong,."

"B-but" he began protesting before he was silenced by her voice "He was g-going to kill you, and had already t-tried once. You c-can feel sorry for k-killing him, b-but you were not t-the one in the wrong." She stopped him quite fiercely. This was the loudest and most confident he had heard her speak ever. Even more than in the preliminaries for the chunin exams.

Suddenly the door opened to reveal Tsunade with Shizune by her side. "Ah you're awake, that makes things much easier." said Tsunade "Although I wasn't epencting this little visitor." she motioned to Hinata, who, in turn, blushed and looked at the ground

"I know, Baa-chan! Me either!" said Naruto in that loud voice of his.

"Now" she said looking at Hinata "would you mind going with Shizune to go look for some lunch for Naruto?" she nodded and left with a quick 'hai'.

She looked at him seriously "Tell me what happened during the mission up until you blacked out" He then proceeded to tell her of how everything went, until Sasuke rammed his Chidori into his chest. After that, everything had become blurry, but he did remember being really angry and wanting to pound Sasuke into the dirt, but not kill him! After that he couldn't really remember anything.

Tsunade sighed "Naruto, the council told me last night that, because you had almost killed Sasuke, you had to be executed"

"WHAT!!??" Interrupted Naruto. "Quiet, brat, let me finish." She scolded him.

"That or exiling you. I already tried, they said that, because there was a lot of demon chakra in the Valley, the Kyuubi obviously had obviously influenced you into killing your teammate. What would stop you from attacking Konoha citizens? Clearly you have enough reasons to do it. So, since they want to take you away, I decided to leave this godforsaken village with you and let it go to hell. We need to leave tomorrow. Rest here for a little while and then you can leave to pack up everything you need."

"What? bu-bu-but why? How can they do this?" he asked in a small voice that made Tsunade cringe.

"Don't worry it's already decided, everything's gonna be alright, even the old perv's helping us."

After a few moments Shizune walked in with Hinata carrying a big box of Ichiraku ramen takeout.

"Ramen! Yes, thanks Shizune!" He almost shouted.

"Actually Naruto-kun, it was Hinata's idea, I wanted to get you the cafeteria food, since it was much easier."

"Really?" he asked through a mouthful of his noodles, she just blushed and nodded "Wow, thanks Hinata!"

"Y-your welcome N-Naruto-kun."

"So Shizune would you mind telling Hinata here about our plan?" Tsunade asked smirking.

"Huh? What does Hinata have to do with any of this?" Asked Naruto.

Tsunade bonked him on the head and said "Wait a second and she'll explain" she scolded him.

"Well you see, Hinata, the council decided, in their infinite wisdom," this comment caused Naruto and Tsunade to laugh a little "that exiling our favorite blond here was a good idea for the safety of the village."

Hinata gasped at this and managed to ask "B-b-but why?"

"We'll go over that later, but in part because he killed Sasuke. Anyway, Tsunade and I decided that, since they wanted to take away the person that convinced us to come back, we would leave this village and live on our own outside the village."

"But w-what does t-this have to d-do w-with me?" Hinata interrupted, sharing Naruto's doubt.

"Well, after I saw you here last night I thought it would be a good idea to take you with us, since it would be good for Naruto to have a training partner, and since I don't see anyone here today, I don't think anyone else would do this. Also, you two would become Tsunade-sama's apprentices. What do you think? Would you like that?"

She almost fainted at that. Leaving the village as Tsunade of the Sannin's apprentice, and with her life-long crush, no love, Naruto. "Me?" she asked "B-but I'm not" she started, before Tsunade interrupted her.

"Don't give me any of that, I know what you're capable of, and you're a way better ninja than you give yourself credit for"

"Yeah, Hinata, you were great in your fight against Neji, and invented that awesome new jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed, to which Hinata blushed even more and began to feel dangerously light-headed.

"Now, would you like to come with us? And don't worry about your father, I've already discussed this with him and he said agreed." Hinata nodded, not trusting her voice

"Great! Now before you go pack up I think Naruto needs to tell you the other reason why the council wants him out, and why the better part of the village hates him."

"What?! Really?! But why?!" Naruto asked nervously

"Naruto," she said in a firm, commanding voice that allowed no argument "you have to, or else this will be a whole lot harder. You need to trust each other, and getting this out of the way now will be much easier than doing it later. We'll be waiting outside for you to finish, bye!" Tsunade and her apprentice both left and sealed the door with the two teens locked inside.

Naruto slowly turned to face Hinata, she just blushed under his gaze and looked at the ground "A-ano, N-naruto-kun?" She started thinking back to how the villagers looked at him and talked about him "Why i-is it t-that the v-villagers hate y-you?" She asked, because apparently he needed some prompting. After a long awkward pause and a sigh from Naruto he began

"Hinata, do you know when my birthday is?"

"Y-yes, it's O-october t-tenth." she said a little too quickly; he didn't seem to notice, and had the most serious face she had ever seen on him

"Right, about thirteen years ago." she nodded, still not getting it. He sighed and after a short pause asked her the million ryo question.

"Do you know what happened on October tenth, fourteen years ago?" She thought about it a little and said

"That was the day the Kyuubi attacked, and the Yondaime killed it." she answered, slowly organizing all of this information in her mind

"And that's where your wrong," he said "the Kyuubi, being a Bijuu, could not be killed, no matter how strong the Yondaime was. But although he couldn't kill it, he had found a way of stopping him, he sealed it away. Inside a newborn child, the only person born on that day. He sealed the Kyuubi in front of me." As he he finished, he looked down, waiting to hear the slamming of the door. She sat there in thought putting the pieces together in her mind _"Kyuubi attacked, Yondaime couldn't kill it, he sealed it away, inside of Naruto, and the village takes out its anger on him just because of that"_

She was suddenly crying and flung herself to Naruto crying into his shoulder, eliciting a small cry of pain at the wound in his chest. Eyes wide, still in shock he said "Y-you don't care?"

Huddenly aware of what she had done, she shot back up into her seat blushing furiously and staring at her feet, Naruto felt slightly disappointed at this for some unknown reason. "N-no, y-you a-are the c-container right? H-holding the Kyuubi a-and k-keeping it f-from destroying t-the v-village?" She answered with her own question

"Yeah" he said slightly apprehensively.

"T-then y-you are s-stronger a-and more powerful t-than anyone in the v-village. None of t-them c-could so m-much as s-scratch it, l-let alone k-keep it at b-bay f-for more than 12 y-years." She said, still with her stutter but more determined and sure than normal. Naruto just stared at her dumbfounded, which made her blush, but she didn't look away this time.

He had thought that if anyone knew the truth they would immediately leave, horrified and would never talk to him again, but here was a living contradiction to that. After he had told Hinata, she didn't run or scream, she just hugged him and comforted him. This had shocked him, considering the most physical contact he had had with another girl his age was Sakura-chan's fist in his head. And no one had ever comforted him. Hinata had done just that, could it be that his thoughts of her were mistaken?

He was jerked out of his thoughts by the door opening and the Hokage coming in. "Well, did you two sort everything out?" They both nodded

"Good, now both of you," she held up two storage scrolls "go and put everything you need in these" she gave them the scrolls "we'll be leaving tomorrow before dawn. Hinata you can leave and go pack, I need to make sure Naruto's fit to travel."

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After Tsunade had finished Inspecting what was left of Naruto's wound, she told him to go home and pack as well. Back in her office, she was going over the decrees she had written.

_I, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage, do hereby appoint Hyuuga Hinata as my second apprentice. Effective Immediately._

_I, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage, do hereby promote Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata to the rank of Chuunin on my authority. Effective Immediately._

_I, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage, do hereby pardon Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, Shizune, and myself of all crimes against Konohagakure no Sato and Hi no Kuni. Also, I do hereby release the above from any and all obligations to Konohagakure no Sato and Hi no Kuni past, present, or future. Also, I do hereby release the above from the Shinobi ranks of Konohagakure no Sato freely, with all their current ranks and titles, but offer them the chance to rejoin the ranks at a later date upon the approval of the Hokage. Effective Immediately._

_I, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage, do hereby name as my successor to the position of Hokage in the event of my demise or retirement, Jiraiya of the Sannin._

_I, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage, do hereby ban the use of seals or jutsu meant to control or punish individuals from being placed upon any willing or unwilling member of this village. Any and all of such seals and jutsu must be registered with the office of the Hokage, complete with a method for removal. Any individual or group who is found to be using such seals or jutsu or has used such seals or jutsu in the past without a method of removal is to be executed publicly, regardless of rank, social status, or standing within the village, as a warning to those who wish to use such methods. Any person subjected to such seal or jutsu, should it be unable to be removed, shall be granted land and monetary compensation on the order of one million ryo for every year they have been subjected to the seal or jutsu in question, the money for which will be taken from the accused's accounts or lands._

Smirking at the papers, she called in Shizune "Hai Tsunade-sama?" she asked as she stepped in "Shizune I need you to get me half of whatever's in the treasury as the part that belongs to the Senju clan. Grinning evilly, her apprentice nodded and left.

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Standing at the gate were four figures, two short ones, and two taller ones. One af the taller ones turned and addressed the rest "Are you all ready?" It asked the rest. After they nodded all four of them turned and began walking away in the gray pre-dawn light, probably never to return again, and atop of one of the figures' head, the one that addressed the others, was a straw hat with the kanji for 'fire' on the front. Konohagakure no Sato's Hokage hat...

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**A.N.: Please tell me what you thought about it. I'm going to be using ideas I've seen here on this site a lot, so if I forget to give credit to anyone, please tell me. R&R please. :)**

**Edit: The Decrees are not mine, they are from Jonque's Missing Hokage Challenge. Read it, it is amazing. Sorry about the rush to leave Konoha, but I felt that spending too long here would've bored you. This is my first story and I do not claim to be an amazing writer, and I hope that you can all help me get better.**


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